My Top Ten Things to Love About Cruising

I have decided to start a short little series on some of my cruise top ten lists. Over the course of the next week, I hope to cover three top ten lists. The three planned top ten lists are: “My favorites Things”, “Things I Avoid” and “Things I’d Like to Try Someday”.

Today, I will start with the first in my series: My Ten Favorite Things I Love About Cruising

10. Production Shows: Some people find them corny, but I find the musical reviews to be charming and very entertaining. While they seem to follow a generic kind of formula, including music and dance that appeals to wide variety of people, the shows often feature some of my favorite Broadway, country and pop songs and spectacular costumes and staging. Celebrity’s Millennium class ships feature a high tech rotating multilevel stage for its productions.

9. Theme Parties: I know they are corny too, but I love the theme parties like the 50’s party and the Island night. The activities staff are experts at getting people to loosen up and enjoy themselves at these parties. They get people dancing by teaching line dances or having competitions between each side of the room.

8. Kids Program: I sort of have a love/hate relationship with kids programs. I want to enjoy time with my kids while on a cruise, but I also want them to have their own fun. The on board cruise program provides them with safe, supervised, fun and educational activities to keep them engaged and enjoying themselves without disturbing other passengers. This also gives my husband and I the opportunity to take in other activities on board the ship without the kids in tow. However, sometimes I have to fight pretty hard to get the kids to hang out with us instead of the kids program.

7. Karaoke and Talent Shows: I love to sing, so I always try to make it to Karaoke. I always cheer on other passengers whether they or good or bad, and have great fun meeting others. Almost all cruises offer a chance to passengers to show off their talents onboard a stage. Usually the kids program puts on their own show. My kids usually participate in that program. If there are enough adult passengers interested in putting on a show, a cruise line will usually have sign-ups and then a rehearsal. On our Celebrity Mexico cruise in 2006, the passengers performed on the large stage in main theater. On our 2007 Alaska cruise, they didn’t have enough passengers sign up for the show, but the band let me do a couple of numbers with them instead.

6. Baked Alaska: I know a lot of people think the whole Baked Alaska Parade is silly, but I love it. I’ve had one on every cruise since I was 10 years old. There is just something fun and freeing about dancing, yelling and cheering – all over Neapolitan ice cream and burnt merange.

5. Wine Tasting: Cruise ships offer a lot of opportunity to learn about wine. While land based cellars often have better or more vintage wine, cruise ships present an opportunity for wine education. Celebrity offers a wine and food pairing class and a wine blending class. While both of these classes were conducted with mass produced wines rather than interesting boutique wines, they were a great opportunity to discern the different qualities and attributes of wine.

4. Lectures: Though lectures may sound boring, I have found them any thing but. One of my favorites included Brent Nixon’s lectures on Alaskan Wildlife. On our cruise to Hawaii, I also enjoyed some of the lectures on the coral reefs and volcanoes of Hawaii.

3. Sea Days: Who needs to bother with those silly ports? Even on the smallest of ships, passengers can either enjoy the ship board activities or relax and do nothing. I love sharing this carefree time with my family and other passengers I’ve met onboard. On many a cruise, there were always ports that we didn’t even get off the boat but instead relax and enjoy the almost empty ship.

2. Formal Nights: Not only do I love getting all dressed up myself, but I love seeing the rest of my family looking their finest.

1. Elegant Dining: I love the attentive service, creative menus and the elegant food presentations. For me, sharing this wonderful experience is the most relaxing and most fun part of the cruise experience.

Leland, those chocolates would make my top ten list except for one night I was the last one to bed in the dark, and didn’t see the chocolate on my pillow. I woke in the middle of the night to find it melted and stuck to my shoulder. It was kind of funny, but I felt so bad for my cabin steward. I explained to him what happened, but even knowing it was chocolate, it was still pretty discusting looking. So it is always best to eat the pillow chocolate first thing when you return to your room. 🙂

Be sure to check back in a few days when I’ll have my follow up, 10 Things I Avoid While Cruising.

Suzanne Klasen – Cruise Arizona

Hi! I am Suzanne Klasen, an Independent Vacation Specialist with CruiseOne. You may also know me from cruise sites and forums as Cruise Arizona. Along with my husband Steve (aka Mr Papa), we have combined our love of cruising with computer skills to bring you a very informative and entertaining site that we hope will help you plan your next vacation. Read More About Suzanne